Get your business on goal – 3 great tips taken from the pitch

Brilliant tactics for getting organised and staying motivated can be found all around us, so why not get inspired during the FIFA World Cup™? Visa, Worldwide partner of FIFA, shares some football-oriented business tips while giving you the chance to cheer your team in Russia this summer!

Blog article presented by Visa, worldwide partner of FIFA World Cup™

“The beautiful game” is ancient – studies show it could date back 4500 years, originating somewhere in Egypt. If that’s true, then footballers have had plenty of time to come up with a few tricks and tactics that work. And it got us thinking, if football is a universal language, then couldn’t we all learn something from the legwork our sporting heroes have put in over the years? Well, the answer is yes. Football theory can even be applied to business… and here’s how:

1. Teamwork makes the dreamwork

If you have staff, you already know how much they can influence your customers, your mood and your takings. Great staff can make a brilliant business, so train them properly and encourage them often, giving them roles that make the most of their talents. The switch to 3-4-2-1 formation by one of Britain’s most famous teams, turned out to be a genius move – because the players were assigned perfect roles based on their individual skills. Bringing a team together isn’t easy, but if you work at it and learn to trust each other a rhythm will be created between your positions – and that’s a team that can’t be beaten.

If you work alone, you might not feel like there’s a team around you. But from the suppliers you deal with to the accounting and marketing people helping you with difficult tasks outside your own expertise, everyone you come into contact with makes a difference, so chose wisely.

A total of 64 games will be played to decide the winner of the 2018 FIFA World Cup™.

2. Set – and score – goals

We love goals – in football and in business. Football success starts with effective coaching in the same way as a successful business begins with some kind of planning and long-term vision.

Successful business owners of all industries share one thing – they have a clear goal in mind. It might be bringing a new type of coffee to the country, improving the quality of hairstyles in their area, or just being their own boss. Once you’ve decided on a goal you can shoot for it, so think about what you want and start taking aim!

Win tickets to the 2018 FIFA World Cup™, thanks to Visa, and cheer your team!

The action takes place in Russia – in cities like Ekaterinburg, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Moscow – and historic St Petersburg.

3. Enjoy your victories but improve from your defeats

Football players don’t lose a match and then give up. Every single aspect of a defeat can be analysed with the aim of improving. And this is an important lesson to learn in business too. You didn’t choose an office job, you chose to do what you love, and that won’t be easy.

Every time you make a loss, lose a staff member, or face down an angry opponent, your confidence might get shaken. But it’s easy to look back on these events and keep getting better. Dig deep into the world of stats and analysis that are compiled from your sales data. Make sure you fully understand what’s selling, who’s buying and how they’re paying, so that you can make better business decisions.

And when it comes to celebrating victories – don’t be afraid to take a day off. You know you work hard, so do something fun to remember what it’s all for. In fact, we’ve got the perfect suggestion: join Visa at the 2018 FIFA World Cup™, courtesy of Visa, Worldwide partner of 2018 FIFA World Cup™!

Win tickets to the 2018 FIFA World Cup™, thanks to Visa, and cheer your team!